Making a Killing

It's summer (by the calendar, at least!) in the San Francisco Bay Area, which means it's time for the San Francisco Mime Troupe to put on another satirical, highly political musical theatre production. This year's play is called "Making a Killing," exploring the ways the Cheney-Bush administration exploits the war for the profits of its friends, all the while diminishing our national security. Ed Holmes, who plays Dick Cheney, is perfect for the role, and the crowd enthusiastically embraced the music and the story of a muckraking newspaper reporter who has been activated in the Reserves and assigned to write "feel-good" stories from Iraq. He discovers some stories that don't feel so good, and struggles with his conscience about whether to tell them, finally finding himself in the defendant's chair in a military courtroom. (The play begins with the courtroom, so I'm not giving any spoilers; everything else is in flashback scenes.)

"Making a Killing" will be playing at various parks and other venues around Northern California through the end of September. Most performances are free. If you live in or near Berkeley, Oakland, Ukiah, Point Arena, Palo Alto, Sebastopol, Sacramento, Davis, Grass Valley, Chico, Bakersfield, Fresno, Santa Cruz, Hayward, Sonoma, or Bolinas, you should check out the SFMT Schedule for a performance near you. (By the way, SF Mime Troupe is not pantomime in the sense of silent performers in whiteface. It's mime in the sense of "mimic" or "satirize," with sets, costumes, spoken lines, and songs.)

Technorati tags: San Francisco Mime Troupe, Political Theater, Musical Theater, Iraq War, Politics, Dick Cheney